My Sacrifice (Chapter One)
by Shibo
Summary: Sakura and Syaoran have reached high school. They have a mutual more-than-friends feeling going on between them, but Syaoran absolutely refuses to acknowledge it. A love triangle is created when Li Meirin comes to town...


Title: My Sacrifice  
Chapter: One  
Date: January 5, 2002 - January 7, 2002  
Author: Shibo  
E-mail: firesoule@yahoo.com  
  
Standard Disclaimer: I do not own characters from Card Captor Sakura  
nor do I have permission from CLAMP to use them in any way, but this  
fanfic is for personal gain only and is not to be used commercially or  
for any monetary profits.  
  
"'Cause when you're with me  
I'm free  
I'm careless,  
I believe  
  
Above all the others  
We'll fly  
This brings tears  
To my eyes  
  
My sacrifice..."  
  
-from "My Sacrifice" by Creed  
* ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** *  
Chapter One  
  
"Point your toes, Sakura! I don't want to see any flat feet from now  
on, you understand? And you, Chiharu! Make FISTS, girl, fists! None of  
those chicken arms! Naoko! What did I say about your crooked back?!"  
  
"Ano... Keep it straight and graceful?" asked Naoko with an impish  
grin. The Tomoeda High cheerleading instructor glared at her.  
  
"Then do it!"  
  
"Hai!"  
  
"Hey, Sakura, don't you think that with her attitude, Seitsuki-san  
could frighten even Touya?" whispered Tomoyo conspiratorially outside  
the fence.  
  
Sakura, who was standing in the back of the bleachers and close enough  
to hear her, chuckled. She was about to reply when said scary cheer  
coach started yelling again.  
  
"Okay, girls! I want to see the formation you learned yesterday!"  
  
Raising her poms, Sakura quickly threw an apologetic glance back  
towards Tomoyo, who lowered her camcorder and waved.   
  
"Have fun, Sakura! I'll see you after practice!"  
  
Sakura nodded and raced to the field in the middle of the track with  
the other girls. Tomoyo smiled to herself and raised her camcorder,  
albeit slowly this time, and pointed it not in the direction of her  
best friend, but at the brown-haired boy farther down the fence.  
  
* ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** *  
  
Li Syaoran cursed himself.  
  
The sun and spring breeze were getting to his head, he decided. What  
the hell was he doing here? It's not as if there WEREN'T other, better  
places he could be.   
  
He sighed. No, this was where he wanted - needed - to be, because it  
was one of the few places he could watch HER as much as he wanted  
without being conspicuous. In fact, to keep him company, there was a  
group of third-years to his left, hooting raucously and making raunchy  
suggestions to the cheerleaders below.  
  
"Hey, baby!" one called. "That's a pretty short skirt you're wearin'!  
Feel like comin' up here so I can take a peek at what's under it?"  
  
The others laughed. Syaoran clenched his fists. For all he knew, they  
could have been talking about his Sakura...  
  
An alarm went off in his head. "His" Sakura? Whatever gave him the  
right to call her his? He put his hands on the fence and breathed  
heavily, trying to cut free of the web of emotions raging against each  
other in his mind. In fact, he was concentrating so hard on focusing on  
anything BUT Sakura that he almost missed it.  
  
Was that a glint of glass in the bushes farther to his right? Syaoran's  
eyes narrowed to amber slits. If someone was spying on him, there was  
going to be hell to pay.   
  
He started to go and investigate when one of the gangsters began to  
catcall VERY loudly.  
  
"! Sexy female comin' this way!"  
  
Out of curiosity, Syaoran looked back to see who the guy had been  
talking about. His heart stopped in his chest.  
  
Sakura would never be tall, that was for sure, but damn if he was going  
to see that as an imperfection. Her long auburn hair was tied back in a  
mass of red and white ribbons, the colors of Tomoeda High. He could see  
her beautiful green eyes even from here, and with an annoyed groan he  
could also see very well that the gangster had been right; that skirt  
was too short for her own good.  
  
"Goin' my way, little lady?" The leader of the gang climbed over the  
fence and dropped in front of her, arms crossed, a wicked smile on his  
lean, handsome face.  
  
Sakura glared at him and pointed at his friends with a pom.  
  
"You and your friends over there are distracting our practice," she  
declared, cool as an ice queen. "I've been sent by Seitsuki-san to tell  
you to leave, or she will call in the school director."  
  
The leader grinned even wider. "All right, we'll leave, but not before  
you and I have a little fun."  
  
He leaned towards Sakura and grabbed her in his dirty arms. She cried  
out in pain.  
  
"No! Don't!"  
  
Syaoran didn't even know how it happened, or how he was able to  
accomplish it so quickly with the fence in the way, but the next thing  
he knew, he had his fist buried into the offender's face.  
  
"Shimatta!" The leader cursed and swung back wildly, seeking the source  
of his pain. Blood streamed from his nose which now had a little  
crook on the top. Syaoran ducked every one of his punches and coolly  
slammed him in the groin. The young man doubled over and fainted away  
immediately.  
  
"That'll teach you some manners," he snarled, spitting at the grass  
beside his head. "Don't you EVER grab Sakura that way - "  
  
"SYAORAN! WATCH OUT!"  
  
Momentarily bewildered by Sakura's panicked scream, Syaoran didn't have  
time to block the kick to his stomach. The rest of the gangsters had  
joined in after seeing their leader's defeat. He growled low in his  
throat, not liking the odds he was up against. Focusing on one man at a  
time, he tried to take them out in three punches/kicks or less, or he  
knew he was a goner.   
  
Syaoran was doing very well until one lucky punch caught him in the eye  
and knocked his sight from him for only an instant, but that instant  
was enough to deterr his attention. Another punch, then another, and  
another, came... He groaned with annoyance for the second time that  
day. Sakura! His mind cried out. I'm so sorry... Then, just when he  
couldn't stand it anymore, they suddenly left him alone.  
  
Warm arms encircled his pain-filled body and something wet seeped  
through his shirt. Syaoran tried opening both eyes but could only  
succeed with his left one.  
  
Sakura's head was buried in his chest, and from her shaking shoulders,  
he guessed she was crying. Crying for him, he thought in wonder.  
  
"Don't cry," he whispered.  
  
Her head came up and soft green met with hard amber.  
  
"Arigato gozaimasu, Syaoran-kun," she replied in a gentle voice. "If  
not for you - "  
  
A shout in the distance captured her attention.  
  
"OVER HERE!" she shouted, jumping up and waving her arms.  
  
Her sudden movement shoved Syaoran back a step and the pain came back  
again, tenfold. He blacked out.  
  
* ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** *  
  
"Naoko-chan, I REALLY don't know," lied Tomoyo smoothly. She pushed  
back a strand of lavender-black hair and composed her face into a  
thoughtful, serene mask.  
  
"But Tomoyo-chan! We ALL saw how Sakura wouldn't leave his side!"   
chirped Yamazaki brightly. "In fact, *I* personally saw her touching  
his face at LEAST twice!"  
  
Tomoyo inwardly sighed with a prick of annoyance. Since when did it  
matter how many times her beloved Sakura touched HER beloved's face? It  
seemed as if no one cared how Syaoran was faring!  
  
"Shut UP, Yamazaki!" exclaimed Chiharu, bopping her on-and-off  
boyfriend in the head. If Tomoyo remembered right, he was "off" this  
particular day. "I don't remember you asking how Syaoran's doing even  
once! Who CARES how many times Sakura touched his face? She was  
probably just really worried about him!"  
  
Tomoyo silently cheered her on.  
  
"Chiharu - "  
  
"By all the gods, you dimwitted fop!" Chiharu continued in her rant.  
"Even IF Sakura and Syaoran-kun are an item, it's all the more romantic  
because he was fighting to protect her! When was the last time you did  
that for ME?!"  
  
The others discreetly disengaged themselves from the two and continued  
on to the hospital wing of the school, mumbling insincere apologies and  
keeping their ears wide open.  
  
"But Chiharu!" wailed Yamazaki. "Working things out by talking is SO  
much more effective AND impressive! I would NEVER fight anyone for  
you!"  
  
There was a very pregnant pause. Tomoyo could feel the calm breaking  
away before an oncoming storm.  
  
"Wait! Chiharu, that didn't come out the way it was supposed to, I  
swear - "  
  
Chiharu's enraged scream was the last thing everyone heard before they  
went around the corner.  
  
"That was interesting," commented Rika, barely hiding an amused smile.  
  
Tomoyo agreed. She threw a sideway glance at Eriol, who had been silent  
all this time. She was surprised that he had already been watching her.  
  
"Well, Eriol-kun?" she asked politely. "Do you believe the gossip?"  
  
He only gave her an enigmatic smile and walked on. Soon they arrived at  
the room in which Syaoran was being cared for. A matronly nurse opened  
the door just as they stopped and smiled when she saw them.  
  
"Are you all friends of Li Syaoran?"  
  
"Hai, Nuriko-san," they replied in one voice.  
  
"Then come in. I declare, he's a very popular boy."  
  
The group filed through the door one by one with Tomoyo in the lead and  
Eriol in the rear. She saw Syaoran reclining on one of the hospital  
beds, a patch over one eye and a bandage wrapped around his head. He  
was reading a book - now why did it look so familiar to her? Then she  
saw the title, and nodded in satisfaction. It was one of Sakura's  
favorites.  
  
"Syaoran-kun!" cried Rika. "How are you feeling?"  
  
With a start, Syaoran looked up and immediately hid the book under the  
covers. Blushing, he replied gruffly,  
  
"I'm okay. Nothing but a little scratch here and there."  
  
"Oh, you don't have to be so macho in front of US!" gushed Naoko. "We  
are all friends, aren't we?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, I suppose - "  
  
"So is it really true? Did you REALLY fight all those gangsters to  
protect Sakura?"  
  
"WE hear you're in love with her!"  
  
"You two make SUCH a cute couple, Syaoran!"  
  
"When are you two going to announce that you're an item?"  
  
"You're going to have such beautiful children!"  
  
Tomoyo JUST managed to hold back a bubble of laughter. She felt sorry  
for the poor, trapped wolf, whose face would have made a tomato  
jealous.  
  
"I see you've had many admirers come in already."  
  
Syaoran turned at Eriol's voice, fire snapping in his good eye. Tomoyo  
looked around the room and sure enough, there had to be at least twenty  
boquets of flowers stashed here and there. Why hadn't she noticed the  
strong, sweet smell when she had first come in? She must be losing her  
observant eye and keen nose, she berated herself.  
  
"What's it to you?" Syaoran snarled at the blue-haired boy.  
  
Eriol shrugged and picked up one of the roses piled on the table beside  
the bed. He sniffed it.  
  
"Sweet, but not so sweet as cherry blossoms," he remarked while putting  
it back. "My, but they are blooming so beautifully this year, don't you  
think? In fact, I think I'll take a stroll this afternoon to see them.  
Did you know there's a legend going around that kissing them will bring  
good luck? You know, I just might do that. Finals coming up, you  
understand."  
  
"Hiiragizawa, you just try, and you'll feel my wrath!" roared Syaoran,  
nearly jumping out of the bed. Nurse Nuriko hurried over and admonished  
him in firm tones just why he should NOT do that. But Eriol had gone.  
  
"What was all that spiel about?" Naoko whispered to Rika. "I mean, why  
did Syaoran-kun get so angry? Eriol-kun was just talking about cherry  
blossoms."  
  
The girl shrugged, but murmured back, "I've never heard that kissing  
them will bring good luck, but hey, if it's true, then I'm going out  
myself after lunch to kiss myself dizzy!"   
  
Tomoyo just fingered her spy camera and smiled.  
  
* ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** *  
  
"Just where are YOU going, baka kaijuu?" inquired Touya, flicking a  
bread crumb at his imouto. "It's getting late, and I'm sure you have  
homework to finish."  
  
"I've already done my homework, and it's only after dinner," retorted  
Sakura, flicking it back. It hit her onii-chan square in the forehead.  
  
"Geez! Your aim is getting better. What are you and Tomoyo up to now? I  
swear, even though you two are third-years already, you still act like  
elementary kids."  
  
Sakura paused, her sweet face coloring.  
  
"Mou... I'll be back in about an hour, all right?"  
  
A suspicious light entered Touya's piercing blue eyes. He sat down his  
soda bottle and stood up, placing his hands on his hips, looking for  
all the world like a mother hen with her feathers ruffled.  
  
"You ARE going over to Tomoyo's, aren't you?"  
  
Sakura was red to the roots by now. "Ano... Actually, I was just going  
to check on a friend of mine that got hurt in a fight today."  
  
Touya seemed to relax. "I see. How did this friend get hurt?"  
  
"That isn't important. What IS, however, is that he's ok..." Sakura put  
a hand over her mouth.  
  
"HE, huh?" drawled Touya lazily, sitting back down. "Does this 'HE'  
happen to have the name Li Syaoran?"  
  
"Hoe!" cried Sakura. "How do you know?"  
  
"News travels fast around here, and my ears happened to prick up at the  
name 'Li'. Sakura," Touya leaned forward earnestly, "please, why are  
you doing this? That brat doesn't have any connection to you  
whatsoever. If he got in a fight, so what? It doesn't concern you."  
  
"It DOES too concern me if he was fighting to protect ME!" shot back  
Sakura, bristling at the word "brat."  
  
Touya raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah, that's right," she continued, "if it hadn't been for Syaoran, I  
would have been assaulted, or worse!"  
  
"WHAT?!" Her brother shot up from his seat, coming around the table to  
kneel face-to-face with her. "Who? What? When?!"  
  
"This afternoon," Sakura mumbled. Oh gods, she hadn't meant for it to  
come out like this. In fact, she hadn't even wanted to tell her father  
and brother. "A third-year named Hamageda Uminari and his friends were  
disrupting cheerleading practice and Seitsuki-san sent me over to ask  
them to leave. Hamageda approached me and started saying really dirty  
things... The next thing I knew, Syaoran jumped out from nowhere and  
started fighting him. I was so scared for him, Touya!"  
  
Touya pulled his imouto into a comforting embrace.  
  
"There now, chibi-kaijuu. It's all over."  
  
"Hamageda's friends joined in, and they kept punching him over and over  
again..."  
  
Sakura's tearful voice was muffled against his sweater. Touya tightened  
his grip on her and cursed himself thoroughly. Gods, this Hamageda  
character had DARED threaten Kinomoto Touya's little imouto! But what  
REALLY pickled his ham was that the Chinese brat had been there to  
protect her when HE hadn't!  
  
"Touya?"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Can I go over to Syaoran-kun's apartment and thank him?"  
  
"Haven't you done that already? Sheesh," mumbled Touya gruffly.   
  
"I want to thank him again and give him something. Is that SO wrong?"  
  
/I guess that Li kid deserves SOME credit... After all, he got landed  
pretty hard, at least from what Sakura says.../  
  
That thought made Touya considerably happier, and even generous.  
  
"All right, Sakura," he allowed, "but you had better be back within the  
hour or else!"  
  
Sakura squealed with joy and hugged him hard. She was out through the  
door in an instant, leaving behind the scent of cherry blossoms.  
  
Touya stared after her for a minute, then, as if a sudden thought had  
taken hold of him, he jumped up and ran to the window, shouting,  
  
"Wait! How do you know where he lives? And what the hell are you going  
to give him?!"  
  
But she had already gone. Touya shook his head and deeply breathed in  
the evening spring air.  
  
/She's seventeen and yet she'll always be my little imouto... Gods,  
if that smug, arrogant, selfish little S.O.B. even TRIES to toy with  
her feelings, I'll kill him.../  
  
* ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** *  
  
"Flight 117 from Tai Po, Hong Kong, to Tokyo, Japan, is now boarding.  
Please enter through Gateways 'G' and 'F'. Again, that is Flight 117  
from Tai Po to Tokyo is now boarding..."  
  
"Meirin, stop gawking out the window and come here."  
  
The sharpness of the old lady's shrill yet powerful voice carried  
across the room. Meirin cringed.  
  
"Very well, da ren," she replied, still calling her great-aunt by the  
ancient title.  
  
Li Feng critically studied her great-granddaughter... well, more like  
great-grandniece, she amended. Meirin's long black hair shone with red  
highlights in the sunlight, and those gorgeous crimson-brown eyes that  
frequently stopped traffic were currently cast down in humility.   
Perhaps now, she's beautiful and strong enough to finish the job she  
had set out to do more than six years ago, Feng thought harshly. We  
need the Wolf back on his throne, and this girl is now perfectly  
trained to do the coercing...  
  
Oh, Xiaolang! Meirin thought desperately as she made her way to her  
mistress. Please, PLEASE accept me this time... You have no idea what  
kind of hell I've been through these last six years because of my  
failure to bring you home after SHE stole your Cards.  
  
Her rosebud mouth twisted into a deep frown.  
  
/Kinomoto Sakura, I haven't forgotten your name NOR your pretty,  
connivingly innocent little face either. If you still have your claws  
in my Prince, I shall be forced to take them out one by one VERY  
painfully... He is promised to Li Meirin!/  
  
"May I have your attention, please. This is the last call for Flight  
117..."  
  
Meirin bowed to Feng and tucked her arm in hers. Wang, their butler/  
chauffeur/main servant/confidante picked up their suitcases and  
disappeared with them into the gateway.  
  
Minutes later, Flight 117 took off.  
  
* ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** *  
  
Notes:  
  
Okay, there's your first chapter, and here's just a quick recap of what  
is happening to each character:   
  
m a i n : p l a y e r s  
  
SAKURA = kawaii and pretty girl that everyone seems to love  
SYAORAN = goes ga-ga over above, gets into fight for her honor (aww...)  
TOMOYO = the best friend, lots of secret scenes taped into her spy cam!  
ERIOL = is he up in the race for Sakura's affection? Kisses kisses!  
TOUYA = being the macho, protective brother he is; Touya is Touya  
MEIRIN = GORGEOUS Chinese girl with vengeance and babies on her mind  
FENG = has designs for her grandson and NONE of them include Sakura...  
(And by the way, I took "Feng" from my own mother's name. =D It means  
"peacock.")  
YUKITO = err... did I forget to stick him in? =D (he's coming up later)  
  
i m p o r t a n t : o t h e r s  
  
FUJITAKA = wonder why he wasn't home when Sakura spilled the beans to  
Touya =P (he'll come up later too)  
CHIHARU = probably beating Yamazaki to a bloody pulp by now  
YAMAZAKI = getting beaten into a bloody pulp by enraged girlfriend  
NAOKO + RIKA = they're just sweet little nobodies... JUST KIDDING! I  
think they'll actually play an important role later on... who knows.  
WANG = he's the butler guy who's also probably be significant to the  
story later  
  
You won't see a recap like the one above ever again because one, it  
takes up too much space, and two, it really doesn't tell you what you  
don't know already. (But hey, I had fun writing it!)  
  
I'm not sure if they have built-in hospitals in Japanese schools. I'm  
sorry if I've made a mistake, but it seemed to fit into the story  
rather well.  
  
Ok, I need loads and loads of comments & criticism! How am I to get  
better if you don't tell me what it is I'm lacking? =P Mail 'em all to  
firesoule@yahoo.com . Flames, however, are NOT appreciated and will be  
deleted before you can say "Shibo's fanfics suck."  
  
Bleh.  
  
^!^ Shibo. 


End file.
